EP1977292A2 - System and method for an integrated backup control system - Google Patents

System and method for an integrated backup control system

Info

Publication number
EP1977292A2
EP1977292A2 EP07718086A EP07718086A EP1977292A2 EP 1977292 A2 EP1977292 A2 EP 1977292A2 EP 07718086 A EP07718086 A EP 07718086A EP 07718086 A EP07718086 A EP 07718086A EP 1977292 A2 EP1977292 A2 EP 1977292A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
backup
primary
signal
electronics
control
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP07718086A
Other languages
German (de)
French (fr)
Inventor
Jukka Matti Hirvonen
Gary Palfreyman
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Gulfstream Aerospace Corp
Original Assignee
Gulfstream Aerospace Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Gulfstream Aerospace Corp filed Critical Gulfstream Aerospace Corp
Publication of EP1977292A2 publication Critical patent/EP1977292A2/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B64AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS
    • B64CAEROPLANES; HELICOPTERS
    • B64C13/00Control systems or transmitting systems for actuating flying-control surfaces, lift-increasing flaps, air brakes, or spoilers
    • B64C13/24Transmitting means
    • B64C13/38Transmitting means with power amplification
    • B64C13/50Transmitting means with power amplification using electrical energy
    • B64C13/503Fly-by-Wire
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B64AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS
    • B64CAEROPLANES; HELICOPTERS
    • B64C13/00Control systems or transmitting systems for actuating flying-control surfaces, lift-increasing flaps, air brakes, or spoilers
    • B64C13/02Initiating means
    • B64C13/04Initiating means actuated personally
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B64AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS
    • B64CAEROPLANES; HELICOPTERS
    • B64C13/00Control systems or transmitting systems for actuating flying-control surfaces, lift-increasing flaps, air brakes, or spoilers
    • B64C13/02Initiating means
    • B64C13/04Initiating means actuated personally
    • B64C13/10Initiating means actuated personally comprising warning devices
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B64AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS
    • B64CAEROPLANES; HELICOPTERS
    • B64C13/00Control systems or transmitting systems for actuating flying-control surfaces, lift-increasing flaps, air brakes, or spoilers
    • B64C13/24Transmitting means
    • B64C13/38Transmitting means with power amplification
    • B64C13/40Transmitting means with power amplification using fluid pressure
    • B64C13/42Transmitting means with power amplification using fluid pressure having duplication or stand-by provisions
    • YGENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02TCLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION
    • Y02T50/00Aeronautics or air transport
    • Y02T50/40Weight reduction

Definitions

  • Embodiments of the invention relate generally to aircraft flight control systems, and, more specifically, to an integrated backup control system.
  • a fly-by-wire flight control system on modern aircraft typically includes a complex set of components including pilot sensors and controls, electronic processor, electronic wiring or data buses, actuators, and control surfaces.
  • advanced aircraft In addition to primary control systems and control components, advanced aircraft often require a certain degree of redundancy in the control systems for safety requirements. The redundancy or backup system of a primary control system typically increases as the critical ⁇ ty of a control functions increases.
  • a backup control system may vary between a completely redundant backup control system, duplicating the components and the performance of the primary control system, and a scaled down or minimum flight control system, reducing performance but saving on weight and cost. Because fully redundant backup control systems are expensive and often excessive, backup systems may be configured as simple as possible, making them robust and reliable while reducing cost and weight. Further, in order to prevent common mode failures, a backup system may be configured as independent and dissimilar, employing separate processors and flight computers for use in the event a failure in the primary control system. [0006] On some advanced control systems for military aircraft, an active control stick in the cockpit may be used to actively shape the feel of the control stick by applying force or resistance on the control stick.
  • the "active feel" of the active control stick or computer actuated control stick may be based on pilot inputs, aircraft configuration and flight conditions and may provide a pilot or copilot with improved situational awareness.
  • the improved situational awareness may include better coordination between pilots by electrically coupling the control sticks on each side of the cockpit, similar to the traditional cable driven coupling between control sticks.
  • an active control stick can be made to follow the Autopilot commands so that the stick moves according to the Autopilot command inputs, giving the pilots better awareness of aircraft.
  • Other advanced features of an active control stick may include soft stops within the feel gradient of an active stick, which may be used to indicate various envelop and performance limits.
  • an active stick when the aircraft is approaching a stall condition, an active stick could incorporate a soft stop in the feel gradient to give a pilot a cue that he is approaching some predetermined margin (e.g. 15% from stall). Equivalently, a soft stop in the feel gradient could indicate an aircraft load factor limitation or attitude angle limitation. The pilot may then have the option to override such limits if he or she deems that appropriate.
  • a soft stop in the feel gradient could be a variable amplitude and/or frequency stick shaker, which could be implemented so that the amplitude of the shaker function increases as the aircraft gets closer and closer to the stall angle of attack, for example.
  • a distributed backup control system may be integrated with the drive electronics or processing unit of an active control stick.
  • One embodiment of the invention may include a flight control system for controlling an aircraft in flight having a first actuated control stick and a second actuated control stick.
  • Each actuated control stick may include a primary sensor, a backup sensor, and a processing unit having at least one processor configured to generate a tactile signal for the actuated control stick.
  • Each processing unit may includes a set of primary electronics may be coupled to a primary sensor and a set of backup electronics coupled to a backup sensor.
  • the flight control system may also include a primary processor coupled to the sets of primary electronics and may be located external to the processing units.
  • the primary processor may generate a primary control signal for use by aircraft actuators.
  • the sets of backup electronics may be configured to generate backup control signals for use by the aircraft actuators. In the event that the actuators determine that the primary control signal is invalid, the aircraft actuators may be configured to use the backup control signals.
  • Figure 1 schematically illustrates a flight control system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention
  • Figure 2 schematically illustrates another flight control system in accordance with another example of an embodiment of the present invention
  • Figure 3 schematically illustrates a active control stick with electronics in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention
  • Figure 4 schematically illustrates an augmented backup control system in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention
  • Figure 5 schematically illustrates another augmented backup control system in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.
  • the processors and computing capability of the active control stick may be integrated into the communications for the control systems for the aircraft such that the active control stick may also function as a backup control system processor.
  • the electronics in the active control stick also referred to as a smart cockpit controller, may be utilized as a backup controller or an integrated sensor data processor.
  • the primary control system may still be configured to meet all the safety requirements in terms of redundancy and monitoring capabilities.
  • the active control stick electronics may be configured to meet the same safety requirements as the primary control system or some other level of redundancy.
  • embodiments of the invention may take advantage of the computing resources of the active control stick electronics without adding another system to act as a backup control system.
  • a backup control system that is integrated into the active control stick electronics may avoid replication of every element of the primary flight control system while taking advantage of the signal conditioning and processing power of the active control stick electronics unit. Additionally, such an arrangement may be used to configure the backup control system with dissimilar and independent processing and communication features when compared to the primary control system.
  • the active control stick may be used by the backup control system, it is contemplated that the active feel of the stick may be unnecessary in the event that the primary control system fails.
  • control stick electronics unit or processing unit may be divided into two separate and independent applications.
  • the control stick processing unit may include a primary partition, for use with the primary control system, and a backup partition, for use with the backup control system.
  • partition is intended to include physically separate and independent hardware and/or separate and independent software that may be fire-walled.
  • an active control stick processing unit may include primary and backup applications, that may be independent and separate based on their hardware and/or software.
  • the primary and backup partitions may also represent a sets of electronics in the active control stick processing unit that may be separate and independent based on their hardware and/or software.
  • One embodiment of the present invention may include combining a smart cockpit controller (e.g. control stick with feedback control capability) and a backup processor into one unit.
  • the smart cockpit controller may include a primary partition, which may merely act as communication concentrator and a voter of different digital transmissions, and a backup partition, which includes processing capabilities for the active control stick and the backup control system.
  • the smart cockpit controller may provide a digital or analog signal directly to a separated and stand-alone primary controller unit, such as a primary flight control computer (“FCC”) and the smart cockpit controller may include the backup controller as a backup controj system for the FCC.
  • FCC primary flight control computer
  • the backup controller may be implemented as a part of the computing functions of the active control, stick, such as the pilot force feedback control processor.
  • the backup controller functions may be implemented using advanced electronics and processing or may be implemented using only relatively simple electronic hardware.
  • Some aircraft include a relaxed static stability or include a particular natural dynamic motion of the aircraft which requires active damping (such as Dutch-roll motion via the yaw damper).
  • the backup or backup control system may require certain augmentation signals from sensors (e.g. aircraft angular rates) in order to effectively control the aircraft using the backup control system.
  • the smart cockpit controller and its backup controller partition in order to optimize sensor arrangement at the aircraft level, may utilize augmentation signals from aircraft sensors typically designated for other aircraft functions.
  • embodiments of the invention may integrate backup sensors, such as micro electronic mechanical systems (“MEMS”) technology or other sensor technologies known to those of skill in the art, into the system architecture by integrating the sensors into the smart cockpit controller, to be used by the active control stick itself, the backup control system, and maybe additional aircraft functions external to the smart cockpit controller.
  • MEMS micro electronic mechanical systems
  • a flight control system 100 is schematically shown in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. As shown, two completely dissimilar processing paths and transmission media provide primary control signals and backup control signals to an aircraft actuator.
  • the actuator may include a smart actuator having a remote electronics unit (“REU") that may be configured to determine if the primary control signal is valid and use the primary control signal over the backup control signal for actuation of the actuator.
  • REU remote electronics unit
  • redundant sensors 10 and 20 may be configured to receive control inputs from a pilot or copilot, as discussed above.
  • the primary control system includes the sensor 10 and the primary controller 14 connected by a transmission ⁇ media 12.
  • the primary control system also includes a transmission media 16, which connects the primary controller 14 with the smart actuator 30.
  • a smart actuator is shown in the figures, it should be understood that alternative actuator control arrangements may be implemented without deviating from the scope and spirit of the present invention.
  • ACE Actuator Control Electronics
  • a backup control system is shown in Figure 1 including the sensor 20 and the backup controller 24, which are connected by a transmission media 22.
  • the backup control system also includes a transmission media 26, which connects the backup controller with the smart actuator 30.
  • the primary and backup control systems may be configured independent and dissimilar, as shown in Figure 1. However, it would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that other configurations of the primary and backup control systems could be implemented with the present invention.
  • both primary and backup control systems may include sensors, associated with each input control, such as a rudder pedals or control stick, for example.
  • control systems may receive inputs from the many different types of sensors used in flight control system, including sensing multiple axes on a given control instrument, such as sensing for pitch, roll, and perhaps yaw if necessary on a control stick. Although only one sensor is schematically shown in the figures for simplicity, it should be understood that the primary and backup control systems may be configured to receive many input signals from sensors, controls, and other devices.
  • Figure 2 schematically shows an example of a flight control system 200 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • Figure 2 illustrates a centralized primary control system with redundant primary processors 101, often called flight control computers ("FCC").
  • the primary processors 101 may receive inputs or sensor signals from the pilot smart cockpit controller or active control stick 110 and the copilot smart cockpit controller 111.
  • the pilot active control stick 110 may include a control stick 114, a primary sensor 140, a backup sensor 142, a primary partition 130 for the active stick control functions, and a backup partition 120 for the backup control function.
  • the primary partition 130 receives input signals from the control stick 114 via the primary sensor 140.
  • the active control stick 110 may include additional sensors, the number of which may be a function of the overall aircraft level system redundancy requirements.
  • the primary sensor 130 may represent multiple redundant physical sensor elements, such as linear-variable-displacement transducers (LVDT) or rotary- variable-displacement-transducers (RVDT) or other type of sensors.
  • the backup partition 120 for the backup control function receives input signals from the control stick 1 14 via the backup sensor 142.
  • the sensor 142 may represent a single sensor or multiple sensors depending on the overall backup control system architecture for a given aircraft.
  • the copilot active control stick 111 may include a control stick 115, a primary sensor 141, a backup sensor 143, a primary partition 131 for the active stick control functions, and a backup partition 121 for the backup control function.
  • the primary partition 131 receives input signals from the control stick 115 via the primary sensor 141.
  • the backup partition 121 receives input signals from the control stick 1 15 and the backup sensor 143.
  • the primary partitions 130 and 131 of the smart cockpit controllers 110 and 11 1 may be simply configured to pass the primary sensor signals in an analog format to the primary processors 101 for processing and signal output by the primary flight controller 101.
  • primary partition 130 could process the analog signals form the sensor 140.
  • the primary partition 130 may validate and vote on the redundant primary sensor signals from the sensors 140 and pass a validated pilot control position signal to the primary control system processors 101 in a digital format.
  • the primary controller 101 may take the pilot control inputs and process the inputs in accordance with the aircraft level control laws.
  • the pilot input may include a control surface position for an aileron or other control surface.
  • the processing of the pilots surface position command may include data from various other type of sensors in the aircraft, such as air data and inertial reference data.
  • the primary partition 130 may also receive redundant control signals 104 from the primary processors 101.
  • the signals 104 may include parameters for the basic stick force gradient, any possible soft stops or activation command of a pilot awareness function, such as a. stick shaker, and may be used by the primary partition 130 to adjust the feel characteristics of the control stick for the pilot.
  • the primary partition 131 may function in the same way to provide signals to the primary processors 101 and adjust the feel of the control stick 115 using the signals 104.
  • processors or processing units 101 may be used as the primary flight control computers as shown in Figure 2. As understood by those of skill in the art, these multiple processors may be packaged in individual enclosures, often referred to as flight control computers ("FCCs"). The processors may also be combined together in one or more enclosures, in which the enclosures are often called control channels. Regardless, each processing element may be divided into a self-checking pair of processors, called a command-monitor type of architecture. Equivalently, a triplex architecture in the flight control computers, in which three processors compute their own commands which are then voted for a mid- value or average, may be employed for the primary control system.
  • FCCs flight control computers
  • the primary control system may include various levels of redundancy and self-monitoring as understood by those of skill in the art.
  • the backup control system may be constructed as a single string design, where there is only a series of signal and processing paths without any parallel monitoring within the backup system itself.
  • the backup control system may be monitored by the primary control system by sending the backup control signal, as received by a smart actuator, back to the primary control system.
  • the primary control system may then compare the backup control signal to a backup controller model within the primary control system as discussed in related co-pending U.S. Patent Application filed on January 17, 2006, entitled "Apparatus and Method for a Backup Control System for a Distributed Flight Control System.”. Any discrepancy of such comparison can be announced to the pilots for them to take the appropriate action.
  • the backup control system shown in Figure 2 may effectively act as a "hot spare" for the primary control system.
  • the backup system may be implemented through the active control sticks 110 and 111 and the backup partitions 120 and 121.
  • the backup partitions 120 and 121 shown in Figure 2 may be configured to perform the necessary functions to drive the "active feel" of the control sticks and to process the inputs from the control sticks 1 14 and 1 15 for the backup control system.
  • the backup system may also be employed in the event that the aircraft experiences a fault, such as a total loss of electrical power to the primary control system. It should be understood that the backup control system may have an independent power source, allowing the backup control system to survive some aircraft level faults. It is also contemplated that the control stick may revert to passive devices in the event of a generic fault in the primary control system in order to reserve all processing power in the control stick electronics for the backup control system.
  • the backup control signals from each backup partitions may be fed to the cross-side backup partition via communication links 126 and 127 for processing.
  • the backup control signals may be scaled and summed together and the sum of the two signals may be limited to the maximum value allowed by a single controller. In this way, the input from both pilot controllers will be included in the aircraft level command computation.
  • the backup partition 120 may be configured to transmit the backup control signals to the left side actuator channels.
  • the backup partition 121 may transmit the backup control signals to the right side actuator channels.
  • the terms left and right should not be limited to channels physically located on the left and right side of an aircraft, but rather the terms left and right may indicate the source of command data for a given actuator channel.
  • the health of the overall backup control paths may be monitored on a continuous basis during the normal operation, so that its availability and even accuracy can be verified even when not in use. If all of the primary control command sources become unavailable or in the event of a general fault in the primary control system renders it unavailable, the control system 200 may be configured to switch to the backup control signals generated by the backup control system. If smart actuators are used, the smart actuators may be configured to automatically switch between the primary and backup control signals if the primary control signal is determined to be invalid or absent.
  • the processor units 101 shown in Figure 2 may be configured to perform other aircraft functions, such as outputting signals for cockpit display, such as crew alerting system (CAS) or maintenance signals.
  • the primary partition 130 and the backup partition 120 of the control stick 1 10 and the primary partition 131 and 121 of the control stick 111 may include software partitions within the active stick controller software instead of being physically separated partitions. The partitions may also be kept strictly physically isolated to minimize the possibility of one partition affecting the operation of another partition.
  • the control stick 110 and the control stick 111, including the primary partitions and the backup partitions may be configured as a dissimilar design compared to the primary controller. For example, the dissimilarity may be based on hardware and/or software. The dissimilarity between the primary controllers and the control sticks 1 10 and 111 may also include using different signal processing algorithms and different aircraft level control laws between the primary and the backup control systems.
  • FIG 3 schematically illustrates an active control stick 400 in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.
  • the active control stick 400 includes a control stick 410, and primary and backup sensors 412 and 414.
  • the active control stick 400 is also shown with a primary partition 420 and a backup partition 430.
  • the primary partition may form a component of the primary control system in different ways.
  • the primary partition may include a voter and signal verification device or may function as a simple primary transmission path for transmitting an analog signal from the control sitesk sensors to the FCC.
  • the backup partition 430 may be configured to include active control stick electronics and backup control system electronics.
  • the backup partition 430 includes a demodulator and analog to digital converter 432, a processor 434, and force feedback electronics 436.
  • the backup partition may also include a data bus receiver and transmitter device 438 for communicating with other backup control system components and with the FCC for other information, such as force gradients and soft stops, etc.
  • the backup control system may utilize the existing active control stick electronics 432, 434, 436, and 438 as a backup system solution for the primary control system. It should be noted the above description may be further simplified if the active stick function, for example, is not required in the backup control mode of the flight control system.
  • the processor 434 may alternatively be implemented by using analog electronics and the data bus interface 438 may also be implemented by using analog signal drivers.
  • FIG. 4 illustrates one embodiment of an augmented backup control system 500.
  • the backup control system 500 includes the backup controllers 522 and 542 positioned within the active control sticks 510 and 530.
  • the backup controller 522 receives input signals from the control stick 512 and the backup sensor 514.
  • the backup controller 542 receives input signals from the control stick 532 and the backup sensor 534.
  • the MEMS or other type of backup rate or acceleration sensors 520 provides augmentation signals to the backup controller 522 and the MEMS sensors 540 provides augmentation signals to the backup controller 542.
  • the augmentation signals from the MEMS sensors 520 and 540 which may be configured to provide aircraft attitude, angular rate, and linear acceleration data, may also be utilized by the standby instrument displays or as backup inputs into the primary displays.
  • the primary partitions 518 and 538 may receive signals from the control sticks 512 and 532 and the primary sensors 516 and 536.
  • the primary control system may be implemented as discussed above or as known by those of skill in the art.
  • the combination of sensors within the active control stick may serve to optimize the total amount of backup sensors at the aircraft level.
  • the MEMS sensors may be configured, as shown in Figure 4, to serve multiple aircraft functions, such as input signals for standby displays and augmentation signals for a backup control system, while optimizing the utilization of MEMS sensors.
  • the backup controller 522 of the active control stick 510 may be configured to provide the backup control signals to the aircraft actuators. As shown in Figure 4, the backup controller 522 provides backup control signals to left side smart actuators 550. Likewise, the backup controller 542 provides backup control signals to right side smart actuators 560. The smart actuators may include remote electronics units as shown in the figure. As would be apparent to those of skill in the art, the backup controllers 522 and 542 may be cross-linked or otherwise configured. Furthermore, the sensors 520 and 540 may be installed as individual and separate units in the aircraft.
  • Figure 5 illustrates an alternative embodiment of an augmented backup control system where the standby instruments 670 and 680, as with the sensors 520 and 540 shown in Figure 4, may provide the required augmentation sensor data to the backup controller in aircraft designed with a relaxed static stability or in aircraft with a particular natural dynamic motion.
  • the backup control system 600 includes the backup controllers 620 and 640 positioned within the active control sticks 610 and 630.
  • the backup controller 620 receives input signals from the control stick 612 and the backup sensor 614.
  • the backup controller 640 receives input signals from the control stick 632 and the backup sensor 634.
  • the sensor signals computed by the standby instruments may be forwarded to the backup controller.
  • the standby instrument 670 is configured to provide both backup controllers 620 and 640 with augmentation signals.
  • the standby instrument 680 is configured to provide both the backup controllers 620 and 640 with augmentation signals.
  • the flight data provided to the standby instruments 670 and 680 may be utilized for multiple aircraft functions, displaying the flight data for the standby displays and providing augmentation signals to the backup controllers. It should also be understood that the flight data from backup sensors as shown in Figures 4 and 5 may be used by the active control stick in order to process any force feed back computations for the control stick.
  • the primary partitions 618 and 638 may receive signals from the control sticks 612 and 632 and the primary sensors 616 and 636.
  • the primary control system may be implemented as discussed above or, alternatively, as known by those of skill in the art.
  • the combination of sensors within the active control stick may serve to optimize the total amount of sensors at the aircraft level.
  • the MEMS or other type of backup sensors may be configured, as shown in Figure 4, to serve multiple aircraft functions, such as input signals for standby displays and augmentation signals for a backup control system, while optimizing the utilization of MEMS sensors.
  • the backup controller 620 of the active control stick 610 may be configured to provide the backup control signals to the aircraft actuators.
  • the backup controller 620 provides backup control signals to left side smart actuators 650.
  • the backup controller 640 provides backup control signals to right side smart actuators 660.
  • the smart actuators may include remote electronics units as shown in the figure. Although smart actuators are shown in Figures 4 and 5, other actuators known to those of skill in the art may be used. Also, as would be apparent to those of skill in the art, the backup controllers 620 and 640 may cross-linked or otherwise configured without deviating from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention relate to a flight control system for controlling an aircraft in flight having a backup control system integrated into an active control stick. The actuated control stick may include a processing unit that includes independent and separate hardware and/or software dedicated to the primary control system and the backup control system. For the primary control system, the processing unit may receive a sensed primary control stick signal and communicate with a primary processor, which may be configured to generate a primary control signal. For the backup control system, the processing unit may receive a sensed backup control stick signal and generate a backup control signal. The processing unit may also generate tactile signal for use by the actuated control stick to adjust the feel of a pilot's control stick.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AN INTEGRATED BACKUP
CONTROL SYSTEM
[0001] This application claims priority to co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application 60/759,029, filed January 17, 2006, and entitled "Integrated Control Stick and Backup Controller," which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. This application is related to co- pending U.S. Patent Application filed on January 17, 2007, entitled "Apparatus and Method for a Backup Control System for a Distributed Flight Control System," which is also assigned to the assignee of the present invention and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Embodiments of the invention relate generally to aircraft flight control systems, and, more specifically, to an integrated backup control system. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] With the rapid developments in aircraft technology, ever-increasing flight envelopes, and overall performance, the flight control systems implemented In modern aircraft have become extremely complex. Advanced flight control systems have been developed to address various aircraft characteristics such as flight performance, fuel efficiency, safety, etc. A fly-by-wire flight control system on modern aircraft typically includes a complex set of components including pilot sensors and controls, electronic processor, electronic wiring or data buses, actuators, and control surfaces. [0004] In addition to primary control systems and control components, advanced aircraft often require a certain degree of redundancy in the control systems for safety requirements. The redundancy or backup system of a primary control system typically increases as the criticalϊty of a control functions increases. Even with a carefully designed primary flight control system, it may be difficult to completely prevent so- called common mode failures within a control system, where an error or generic fault propagates from the primary control system to the redundant or backup components. A common mode failure also includes a generic fault that impacts all the identical redundant system elements simultaneously. As a consequence, redundant or backup control system may be configured as fully redundant and dissimilar, which unfortunately increases the part count or line-replaceable unit (LRU) count, cost, and weight for an aircraft. This problem can be especially difficult when the control system utilized a distributed fly-by-wire control system, where the actuators on the aircraft include their own servo loop closure electronics at or near the actuator. [0005] A backup control system may vary between a completely redundant backup control system, duplicating the components and the performance of the primary control system, and a scaled down or minimum flight control system, reducing performance but saving on weight and cost. Because fully redundant backup control systems are expensive and often excessive, backup systems may be configured as simple as possible, making them robust and reliable while reducing cost and weight. Further, in order to prevent common mode failures, a backup system may be configured as independent and dissimilar, employing separate processors and flight computers for use in the event a failure in the primary control system. [0006] On some advanced control systems for military aircraft, an active control stick in the cockpit may be used to actively shape the feel of the control stick by applying force or resistance on the control stick. The "active feel" of the active control stick or computer actuated control stick may be based on pilot inputs, aircraft configuration and flight conditions and may provide a pilot or copilot with improved situational awareness. For example, the improved situational awareness may include better coordination between pilots by electrically coupling the control sticks on each side of the cockpit, similar to the traditional cable driven coupling between control sticks. In addition to the pilot-to-pilot coupling, an active control stick can be made to follow the Autopilot commands so that the stick moves according to the Autopilot command inputs, giving the pilots better awareness of aircraft. [0007] Other advanced features of an active control stick may include soft stops within the feel gradient of an active stick, which may be used to indicate various envelop and performance limits. For example, when the aircraft is approaching a stall condition, an active stick could incorporate a soft stop in the feel gradient to give a pilot a cue that he is approaching some predetermined margin (e.g. 15% from stall). Equivalently, a soft stop in the feel gradient could indicate an aircraft load factor limitation or attitude angle limitation. The pilot may then have the option to override such limits if he or she deems that appropriate. Yet another example of an advanced feature of an active control stick could be a variable amplitude and/or frequency stick shaker, which could be implemented so that the amplitude of the shaker function increases as the aircraft gets closer and closer to the stall angle of attack, for example. [0008] To accomplish these active control stick functions, extensive processing may be required by stick control electronics to perform flight calculations and compute specific force loop functions, which dictate the amount and direction of force or resistance to apply to the control stick in a given flight condition. Although these calculations may be performed by the primary flight control electronics, such an arrangement may consume significant computing power needed for the primary control system. As such, typical active control sticks include independent and dedicated electronics and processors capable of performing the necessary computations for the active stick control, leaving the primary flight control electronics free to perform other flight critical functions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0009] Separate processors and flight computers may include significant computing power that may remain unused or underutilized during normal operations. In some cases, other processors or flight electronics may go underutilized in the typical design of an advanced control system. The flight electronics used to drive an active flight control stick may also have go underutilized under normal operating conditions or have excess processing capacity available. [0010] In accordance with embodiments of the invention, a distributed backup control system may be integrated with the drive electronics or processing unit of an active control stick. One embodiment of the invention may include a flight control system for controlling an aircraft in flight having a first actuated control stick and a second actuated control stick. Each actuated control stick may include a primary sensor, a backup sensor, and a processing unit having at least one processor configured to generate a tactile signal for the actuated control stick. Each processing unit may includes a set of primary electronics may be coupled to a primary sensor and a set of backup electronics coupled to a backup sensor. The flight control system may also include a primary processor coupled to the sets of primary electronics and may be located external to the processing units. The primary processor may generate a primary control signal for use by aircraft actuators. The sets of backup electronics may be configured to generate backup control signals for use by the aircraft actuators. In the event that the actuators determine that the primary control signal is invalid, the aircraft actuators may be configured to use the backup control signals.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] Figure 1 schematically illustrates a flight control system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0012] Figure 2 schematically illustrates another flight control system in accordance with another example of an embodiment of the present invention; [0013] Figure 3 schematically illustrates a active control stick with electronics in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; [0014] Figure 4 schematically illustrates an augmented backup control system in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; and [0015] Figure 5 schematically illustrates another augmented backup control system in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [0016] The present disclosure will now be described more fully with reference to the Figures in which various embodiments of the present invention are shown. The subject matter of this disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. [0017] In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the processors and computing capability of the active control stick may be integrated into the communications for the control systems for the aircraft such that the active control stick may also function as a backup control system processor. The electronics in the active control stick, also referred to as a smart cockpit controller, may be utilized as a backup controller or an integrated sensor data processor. As understood by those of skill in the art, the primary control system may still be configured to meet all the safety requirements in terms of redundancy and monitoring capabilities. Likewise, it should be understood that the active control stick electronics may be configured to meet the same safety requirements as the primary control system or some other level of redundancy. When including an active control stick on an aircraft, embodiments of the invention may take advantage of the computing resources of the active control stick electronics without adding another system to act as a backup control system. A backup control system that is integrated into the active control stick electronics may avoid replication of every element of the primary flight control system while taking advantage of the signal conditioning and processing power of the active control stick electronics unit. Additionally, such an arrangement may be used to configure the backup control system with dissimilar and independent processing and communication features when compared to the primary control system. Although the active control stick may be used by the backup control system, it is contemplated that the active feel of the stick may be unnecessary in the event that the primary control system fails.
[0018] In accordance with embodiments of the invention, the control stick electronics unit or processing unit may be divided into two separate and independent applications. For example, the control stick processing unit may include a primary partition, for use with the primary control system, and a backup partition, for use with the backup control system. As used herein, the term partition is intended to include physically separate and independent hardware and/or separate and independent software that may be fire-walled. In other words, an active control stick processing unit may include primary and backup applications, that may be independent and separate based on their hardware and/or software. The primary and backup partitions may also represent a sets of electronics in the active control stick processing unit that may be separate and independent based on their hardware and/or software. [0019] One embodiment of the present invention may include combining a smart cockpit controller (e.g. control stick with feedback control capability) and a backup processor into one unit. In another embodiment of the present invention, the smart cockpit controller may include a primary partition, which may merely act as communication concentrator and a voter of different digital transmissions, and a backup partition, which includes processing capabilities for the active control stick and the backup control system. In another embodiment of the present invention, the smart cockpit controller may provide a digital or analog signal directly to a separated and stand-alone primary controller unit, such as a primary flight control computer ("FCC") and the smart cockpit controller may include the backup controller as a backup controj system for the FCC. [0020] The backup controller may be implemented as a part of the computing functions of the active control, stick, such as the pilot force feedback control processor. The backup controller functions may be implemented using advanced electronics and processing or may be implemented using only relatively simple electronic hardware. [0021] Some aircraft include a relaxed static stability or include a particular natural dynamic motion of the aircraft which requires active damping (such as Dutch-roll motion via the yaw damper). In such cases, the backup or backup control system may require certain augmentation signals from sensors (e.g. aircraft angular rates) in order to effectively control the aircraft using the backup control system. In one embodiment of the present invention, the smart cockpit controller and its backup controller partition, in order to optimize sensor arrangement at the aircraft level, may utilize augmentation signals from aircraft sensors typically designated for other aircraft functions. [0022] In aircraft control systems requiring signal augmentation, embodiments of the invention may integrate backup sensors, such as micro electronic mechanical systems ("MEMS") technology or other sensor technologies known to those of skill in the art, into the system architecture by integrating the sensors into the smart cockpit controller, to be used by the active control stick itself, the backup control system, and maybe additional aircraft functions external to the smart cockpit controller.
Alternatively, it should be understood that dedicated sensors may be used as standalone units. Further, sensors may be independent of the smart cockpit controller but provide signals to the multiple aircraft devices, such as the backup control system and standby display instruments, as examples. [0023] Referring to Figure 1, a flight control system 100 is schematically shown in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. As shown, two completely dissimilar processing paths and transmission media provide primary control signals and backup control signals to an aircraft actuator. In some embodiments of the invention, the actuator may include a smart actuator having a remote electronics unit ("REU") that may be configured to determine if the primary control signal is valid and use the primary control signal over the backup control signal for actuation of the actuator.
[0024] In Figure 1, redundant sensors 10 and 20 may be configured to receive control inputs from a pilot or copilot, as discussed above. The primary control system includes the sensor 10 and the primary controller 14 connected by a transmission media 12. The primary control system also includes a transmission media 16, which connects the primary controller 14 with the smart actuator 30. Although a smart actuator is shown in the figures, it should be understood that alternative actuator control arrangements may be implemented without deviating from the scope and spirit of the present invention. For example, a centralized Fly-By-Wire control system using Actuator Control Electronics (ACE) units (not shown in the figures), which typically receive their augmented commands from the primary flight control computers could also receive commands from a backup control system or controller integrated with an active control stick.
[0025] A backup control system is shown in Figure 1 including the sensor 20 and the backup controller 24, which are connected by a transmission media 22. The backup control system also includes a transmission media 26, which connects the backup controller with the smart actuator 30. It should be noted that the primary and backup control systems may be configured independent and dissimilar, as shown in Figure 1. However, it would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that other configurations of the primary and backup control systems could be implemented with the present invention. [0026] It should be understood that both primary and backup control systems may include sensors, associated with each input control, such as a rudder pedals or control stick, for example. Additionally, the control systems may receive inputs from the many different types of sensors used in flight control system, including sensing multiple axes on a given control instrument, such as sensing for pitch, roll, and perhaps yaw if necessary on a control stick. Although only one sensor is schematically shown in the figures for simplicity, it should be understood that the primary and backup control systems may be configured to receive many input signals from sensors, controls, and other devices. [0027] Figure 2 schematically shows an example of a flight control system 200 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 illustrates a centralized primary control system with redundant primary processors 101, often called flight control computers ("FCC"). The primary processors 101 may receive inputs or sensor signals from the pilot smart cockpit controller or active control stick 110 and the copilot smart cockpit controller 111. [0028] The pilot active control stick 110 may include a control stick 114, a primary sensor 140, a backup sensor 142, a primary partition 130 for the active stick control functions, and a backup partition 120 for the backup control function. The primary partition 130 receives input signals from the control stick 114 via the primary sensor 140. The active control stick 110 may include additional sensors, the number of which may be a function of the overall aircraft level system redundancy requirements. For example, the primary sensor 130 may represent multiple redundant physical sensor elements, such as linear-variable-displacement transducers (LVDT) or rotary- variable-displacement-transducers (RVDT) or other type of sensors.
[0029] Likewise, the backup partition 120 for the backup control function receives input signals from the control stick 1 14 via the backup sensor 142. Again, the sensor 142 may represent a single sensor or multiple sensors depending on the overall backup control system architecture for a given aircraft. [0030] The copilot active control stick 111 may include a control stick 115, a primary sensor 141, a backup sensor 143, a primary partition 131 for the active stick control functions, and a backup partition 121 for the backup control function. The primary partition 131 receives input signals from the control stick 115 via the primary sensor 141. Likewise, the backup partition 121 receives input signals from the control stick 1 15 and the backup sensor 143.
[0031] The primary partitions 130 and 131 of the smart cockpit controllers 110 and 11 1 may be simply configured to pass the primary sensor signals in an analog format to the primary processors 101 for processing and signal output by the primary flight controller 101. Alternatively, primary partition 130 could process the analog signals form the sensor 140. For example, the primary partition 130 may validate and vote on the redundant primary sensor signals from the sensors 140 and pass a validated pilot control position signal to the primary control system processors 101 in a digital format. The primary controller 101 may take the pilot control inputs and process the inputs in accordance with the aircraft level control laws. For example, the pilot input may include a control surface position for an aileron or other control surface. The processing of the pilots surface position command may include data from various other type of sensors in the aircraft, such as air data and inertial reference data. The primary partition 130 may also receive redundant control signals 104 from the primary processors 101. The signals 104 may include parameters for the basic stick force gradient, any possible soft stops or activation command of a pilot awareness function, such as a. stick shaker, and may be used by the primary partition 130 to adjust the feel characteristics of the control stick for the pilot. The primary partition 131 may function in the same way to provide signals to the primary processors 101 and adjust the feel of the control stick 115 using the signals 104.
[0032] It should be noted that multiple processors or processing units 101 may be used as the primary flight control computers as shown in Figure 2. As understood by those of skill in the art, these multiple processors may be packaged in individual enclosures, often referred to as flight control computers ("FCCs"). The processors may also be combined together in one or more enclosures, in which the enclosures are often called control channels. Regardless, each processing element may be divided into a self-checking pair of processors, called a command-monitor type of architecture. Equivalently, a triplex architecture in the flight control computers, in which three processors compute their own commands which are then voted for a mid- value or average, may be employed for the primary control system. The primary control system may include various levels of redundancy and self-monitoring as understood by those of skill in the art. [0033] Alternatively, the backup control system may be constructed as a single string design, where there is only a series of signal and processing paths without any parallel monitoring within the backup system itself. Although such a backup control system arrangement would not include any self-monitoring, the backup control system may be monitored by the primary control system by sending the backup control signal, as received by a smart actuator, back to the primary control system. The primary control system may then compare the backup control signal to a backup controller model within the primary control system as discussed in related co-pending U.S. Patent Application filed on January 17, 2006, entitled "Apparatus and Method for a Backup Control System for a Distributed Flight Control System.". Any discrepancy of such comparison can be announced to the pilots for them to take the appropriate action.
[0034] The backup control system shown in Figure 2 may effectively act as a "hot spare" for the primary control system. The backup system may be implemented through the active control sticks 110 and 111 and the backup partitions 120 and 121. In the event that the primary control system experiences a generic fault, the backup partitions 120 and 121 shown in Figure 2 may be configured to perform the necessary functions to drive the "active feel" of the control sticks and to process the inputs from the control sticks 1 14 and 1 15 for the backup control system. The backup system may also be employed in the event that the aircraft experiences a fault, such as a total loss of electrical power to the primary control system. It should be understood that the backup control system may have an independent power source, allowing the backup control system to survive some aircraft level faults. It is also contemplated that the control stick may revert to passive devices in the event of a generic fault in the primary control system in order to reserve all processing power in the control stick electronics for the backup control system.
[0035] In order to optimize aircraft control, the backup control signals from each backup partitions may be fed to the cross-side backup partition via communication links 126 and 127 for processing. For example, the backup control signals may be scaled and summed together and the sum of the two signals may be limited to the maximum value allowed by a single controller. In this way, the input from both pilot controllers will be included in the aircraft level command computation. The backup partition 120, may be configured to transmit the backup control signals to the left side actuator channels. Likewise, the backup partition 121 may transmit the backup control signals to the right side actuator channels. As understood by those of skill in the art, the terms left and right should not be limited to channels physically located on the left and right side of an aircraft, but rather the terms left and right may indicate the source of command data for a given actuator channel. [0036] The health of the overall backup control paths may be monitored on a continuous basis during the normal operation, so that its availability and even accuracy can be verified even when not in use. If all of the primary control command sources become unavailable or in the event of a general fault in the primary control system renders it unavailable, the control system 200 may be configured to switch to the backup control signals generated by the backup control system. If smart actuators are used, the smart actuators may be configured to automatically switch between the primary and backup control signals if the primary control signal is determined to be invalid or absent. [0037] It should be understood that the processor units 101 shown in Figure 2 may be configured to perform other aircraft functions, such as outputting signals for cockpit display, such as crew alerting system (CAS) or maintenance signals. [0038] In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the primary partition 130 and the backup partition 120 of the control stick 1 10 and the primary partition 131 and 121 of the control stick 111 may include software partitions within the active stick controller software instead of being physically separated partitions. The partitions may also be kept strictly physically isolated to minimize the possibility of one partition affecting the operation of another partition. Additionally, the control stick 110 and the control stick 111, including the primary partitions and the backup partitions, may be configured as a dissimilar design compared to the primary controller. For example, the dissimilarity may be based on hardware and/or software. The dissimilarity between the primary controllers and the control sticks 1 10 and 111 may also include using different signal processing algorithms and different aircraft level control laws between the primary and the backup control systems.
[0039] Figure 3 schematically illustrates an active control stick 400 in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. The active control stick 400, as shown in Figure 3, includes a control stick 410, and primary and backup sensors 412 and 414. The active control stick 400 is also shown with a primary partition 420 and a backup partition 430. As discussed with reference to Figure 2, the primary partition may form a component of the primary control system in different ways. For example the primary partition may include a voter and signal verification device or may function as a simple primary transmission path for transmitting an analog signal from the control stiek sensors to the FCC. [0040] The backup partition 430 may be configured to include active control stick electronics and backup control system electronics. As shown in Figure 3, the backup partition 430 includes a demodulator and analog to digital converter 432, a processor 434, and force feedback electronics 436. The backup partition may also include a data bus receiver and transmitter device 438 for communicating with other backup control system components and with the FCC for other information, such as force gradients and soft stops, etc. The backup control system may utilize the existing active control stick electronics 432, 434, 436, and 438 as a backup system solution for the primary control system. It should be noted the above description may be further simplified if the active stick function, for example, is not required in the backup control mode of the flight control system. The processor 434 may alternatively be implemented by using analog electronics and the data bus interface 438 may also be implemented by using analog signal drivers. [0041] As mentioned above, in aircraft designed with a relaxed static stability or in aircraft with a particular natural dynamic motion of the aircraft that requires damping (such as Dutch-roll motion via the yaw damper) the backup or backup control system requires certain augmentation signals from backup sensors (e.g. aircraft angular rates) in order to properly control the aircraft. Figure 4 illustrates one embodiment of an augmented backup control system 500.
[0042] As shown in Figure 4, the backup control system 500 includes the backup controllers 522 and 542 positioned within the active control sticks 510 and 530. The backup controller 522 receives input signals from the control stick 512 and the backup sensor 514. The backup controller 542 receives input signals from the control stick 532 and the backup sensor 534. In accordance with this embodiment, the MEMS or other type of backup rate or acceleration sensors 520 provides augmentation signals to the backup controller 522 and the MEMS sensors 540 provides augmentation signals to the backup controller 542. [0043] The augmentation signals from the MEMS sensors 520 and 540, which may be configured to provide aircraft attitude, angular rate, and linear acceleration data, may also be utilized by the standby instrument displays or as backup inputs into the primary displays. Such an arrangement may allow a part number reduction at the aircraft level, which, in turn, may save weight and cost of the aircraft. The primary partitions 518 and 538 may receive signals from the control sticks 512 and 532 and the primary sensors 516 and 536. The primary control system may be implemented as discussed above or as known by those of skill in the art. The combination of sensors within the active control stick may serve to optimize the total amount of backup sensors at the aircraft level. Further, the MEMS sensors may be configured, as shown in Figure 4, to serve multiple aircraft functions, such as input signals for standby displays and augmentation signals for a backup control system, while optimizing the utilization of MEMS sensors.
[0044] Upon computing a backup control signal, the backup controller 522 of the active control stick 510 may be configured to provide the backup control signals to the aircraft actuators. As shown in Figure 4, the backup controller 522 provides backup control signals to left side smart actuators 550. Likewise, the backup controller 542 provides backup control signals to right side smart actuators 560. The smart actuators may include remote electronics units as shown in the figure. As would be apparent to those of skill in the art, the backup controllers 522 and 542 may be cross-linked or otherwise configured. Furthermore, the sensors 520 and 540 may be installed as individual and separate units in the aircraft.
[0045] Figure 5 illustrates an alternative embodiment of an augmented backup control system where the standby instruments 670 and 680, as with the sensors 520 and 540 shown in Figure 4, may provide the required augmentation sensor data to the backup controller in aircraft designed with a relaxed static stability or in aircraft with a particular natural dynamic motion. As shown in Figure 5, the backup control system 600 includes the backup controllers 620 and 640 positioned within the active control sticks 610 and 630. The backup controller 620 receives input signals from the control stick 612 and the backup sensor 614. The backup controller 640 receives input signals from the control stick 632 and the backup sensor 634.
[0046] In accordance with the embodiment of the invention shown in Figure 5, the sensor signals computed by the standby instruments may be forwarded to the backup controller. As shown in Figure 5, the standby instrument 670 is configured to provide both backup controllers 620 and 640 with augmentation signals. The standby instrument 680 is configured to provide both the backup controllers 620 and 640 with augmentation signals. [0047] As such, the flight data provided to the standby instruments 670 and 680 may be utilized for multiple aircraft functions, displaying the flight data for the standby displays and providing augmentation signals to the backup controllers. It should also be understood that the flight data from backup sensors as shown in Figures 4 and 5 may be used by the active control stick in order to process any force feed back computations for the control stick. [0048] The primary partitions 618 and 638 may receive signals from the control sticks 612 and 632 and the primary sensors 616 and 636. The primary control system may be implemented as discussed above or, alternatively, as known by those of skill in the art. The combination of sensors within the active control stick may serve to optimize the total amount of sensors at the aircraft level. Further, the MEMS or other type of backup sensors may be configured, as shown in Figure 4, to serve multiple aircraft functions, such as input signals for standby displays and augmentation signals for a backup control system, while optimizing the utilization of MEMS sensors. [0049] Upon computing a backup control signal, the backup controller 620 of the active control stick 610 may be configured to provide the backup control signals to the aircraft actuators. As shown in Figure 5, the backup controller 620 provides backup control signals to left side smart actuators 650. Likewise, the backup controller 640 provides backup control signals to right side smart actuators 660. The smart actuators may include remote electronics units as shown in the figure. Although smart actuators are shown in Figures 4 and 5, other actuators known to those of skill in the art may be used. Also, as would be apparent to those of skill in the art, the backup controllers 620 and 640 may cross-linked or otherwise configured without deviating from the scope and spirit of the present invention.
[0050] The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present invention are presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Obviously, many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. While the embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical applications, thereby enabling others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention, various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use are also possible. The scope of the invention is to be defined only by the claims appended hereto, and by their equivalents.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:
1. A flight control system for controlling an aircraft in flight, the flight control system comprising: an actuated control stick having a primary sensor, a backup sensor, and a processing unit having at least one processor configured to generate a tactile signal for the actuated control stick; a set of primary electronics coupled to the primary sensor and located in the processing unit, the set of primary electronics being configured to receive a primary control stick signal from the primary sensor; a primary processor coupled to the set of primary electronics and located external to the processing unit, the primary processor being configured to generate a primary control signal based, at least in part, on the primary control stick signal; a set of backup electronics coupled to the backup sensor and located in the processing unit, the set of backup electronics being configured to receive a backup control stick signal from the backup sensor and generate a backup control signal based, at least in part, on the backup control stick signal; at least one aircraft actuator coupled to the primary processor and coupled to the set of backup electronics, the at least one aircraft actuator being configured to receive the primary control signal from the primary processor and the backup control signal from the set of backup electronics and being configured to actuate based, at least in part, on at least one of the primary control signal or the backup control signal.
2. The flight control system of claim 1, wherein the set of backup electronics includes the at least one processor and is configured to generate the tactile signal and the backup control signal.
3. The flight control system of claim 2, wherein the set of backup electronics includes a feedback electronics unit connected between the at least one processor and the actuated control stick.
4. The flight control system of claim 1, wherein the set of primary electronics includes the at least one processor.
5. The flight control system of claim 4, wherein the set of backup electronics further includes a first processor configured to generate the backup control signal.
6. The flight control system of claim 4, wherein the set of backup electronics includes analog processing equipment and is configured to generate the backup control signal as an analog signal.
7. The flight control system of claim 1, wherein the primary processor provides aircraft flight data to the processing unit and the tactile signal is based, at least in part, on the aircraft flight data received from the primary processor.
8. The flight control system of claim 1, wherein the at least one aircraft actuator is configured to determine whether the primary control signal is valid and is configured to use the backup control signal to control the at least one aircraft actuator in the event that the primary control signal is determined to be invalid.
9. A flight control system for controlling an aircraft in flight, the flight control system comprising: a first actuated control stick having a first primary sensor, a first backup sensor, and a first processing unit having at least one first processor configured to generate a first tactile signal for the first actuated control stick; a first set of primary electronics coupled to the first primary sensor and located in the first processing unit, the first set of primary electronics being configured to receive a first primary control stick signal from the first primary sensor; a second actuated control stick having a second primary sensor, a second backup sensor, and a second processing unit having at least one second processor configured to generate a second tactile signal for the second actuated control stick; a second set of primary electronics coupled to the second primary sensor and located in the second processing unit, the second set of primary electronics being configured to receive a second primary control stick signal from the second primary sensor; a primary processor coupled to the first set of primary electronics and the second set of primary electronics, the primary processor located external to the processing unit and the primary processor being configured to generate a primary control signal based, at least in part, on at least one of the first primary control stick signal and the second primary control stick signal; a first set of backup electronics coupled to the first backup sensor and located in the first processing unit, the first set of backup electronics being configured to receive a first backup control stick signal from the first backup sensor and generate a first backup control signal based, at least in part, on the first backup control stick signal; a second set of backup electronics coupled to the second backup sensor and located in the second processing unit, the second set of backup electronics being configured to receive a second backup control stick signal from the second backup sensor and generate a second backup control signal based, at least in part, on the second backup control stick signal; at least one aircraft actuator coupled to the primary processor and coupled to at least one of the first set of backup electronics and the second set of backup electronics, the at least one aircraft actuator being configured to receive the primary control signal from the primary processor and at least one of the first backup control signal or the second backup control signal and being configured to actuate based, at least in part, on at least one of the primary control signal, the first backup control signal, or the second backup control signal.
10. The flight control system of claim 9, wherein: the first set of backup electronics includes the at least one first processor and is configured to generate the first tactile signal and the first backup control signal; and the second set of backup electronics includes the at least one second processor and is configured to generate the second tactile signal and the second backup control signal.
1 1. The flight control system of claim 10, wherein: the first set of backup electronics includes a first feedback electronics unit connected between the at least one first processor and the first actuated control stick; and the second set of backup electronics includes a second feedback electronics unit connected between the at least one second processor and the second actuated control stick.
12. The flight control system of claim 10, wherein: the first set of primary electronics transmits the first primary control stick signal to the primary processor as a first analog signal; and the second set of primary electronics transmits the second primary control stick signal to the primary processor as a second analog signal.
13. The flight control system of claim 9, wherein: the first set of primary electronics includes a third processor configured to generate the first tactile signal for the first actuated control stick; and the second set of primary electronics includes a fourth processor configured to generate the second tactile signal for the second actuated control stick.
14. The flight control system of claim 13, wherein: the first set of backup electronics includes a fifth processor configured to generate the first backup control signal; and the second set of backup electronics includes a sixth processor configured to generate the second backup control signal.
15. The flight control system of claim 13, wherein: the first set of backup electronics includes first analog processing equipment and is configured to generate the first backup control signal as a first analog signal; and the second set of backup electronics includes second analog processing equipment and is configured to generate the second backup control signal as a second analog signal.
16. The flight control system of claim 9, wherein the first set of backup electronics and the second set of backup electronics are cross-linked.
17. The flight control system of claim 9, wherein: the first set of backup electronics is configured to transmit the first backup control signal on a first set of aircraft actuator channels; and the second set of backup electronics is configured to transmit the second backup control signal on a second set of aircraft actuator channels.
18. The flight control system of claim 9, wherein the first set of primary electronics and the second set of primary electronics include a signal processing device.
19. The flight control system of claim 9, wherein the first set of backup electronics and the second set of backup electronics are configured to receive flight data from at least one sensor sensing at least one of attitude, rate, or acceleration.
20. The flight control system of claim 19, wherein the at least one sensor is configured to provide flight data to at least one of a standby display or a primary display.
21. The flight control system of claim 9, wherein at least one of the first set of backup electronics and the second set of backup electronics receives augmentation signals from a standby instrument system.
22. A method for controlling the flight of an aircraft, the method comprising: sensing a primary control stick signal in a primary sensor coupled to an actuated control stick, the primary sensor being coupled to a set of primary electronics in a processing unit; sensing a backup control stick signal in a backup sensor coupled to the actuated control stick, the backup sensor being coupled to a set of backup electronics in the processing unit; transmitting the primary control stick signal from the set of primary electronics to a primary processor located external to the processing unit; generating a tactile signal in the processing unit for use by the actuated control stick; actuating the actuator control stick in response to the tactile signal; generating a primary control signal in the primary processor for an aircraft actuator, the primary processor being coupled to the aircraft actuator; generating a backup control signal in the set of backup electronics for the aircraft actuator, the set of backup electronics being coupled to the aircraft actuator; and controlling the aircraft actuator using at least one of the primary control signal or the backup control signal.
23. The method of claim 22, further comprising: determining, in an actuator electronics unit, whether the primary control signal is valid; and selecting the backup control signal to control the aircraft actuator in the event the primary control signal is invalid.
24. A method for controlling the flight of an aircraft, the method comprising: sensing a first primary control stick signal in a first primary sensor coupled to a first actuated control stick, the first primary sensor being coupled to a first set of primary electronics in a first processing unit; sensing a first backup control stick signal in a first backup sensor coupled to the first actuated control stick, the first backup sensor being coupled to a first set of backup electronics in the first processing unit; sensing a second primary control stick signal in a second primary sensor coupled to a second actuated control stick, the second primary sensor being coupled to a second set of primary electronics in a second processing unit; sensing a second backup control stick signal in a second backup sensor coupled to the second actuated control stick, the second backup sensor being coupled to a second set of backup electronics in the second processing unit; transmitting the first primary control stick signal and the second primary control stick signal to a primary processor located external to the first processing unit and the second processing unit; generating a first tactile signal in the first processing unit for use by the first actuated control stick; generating a second tactile signal in the second processing unit for use by the second actuated control stick; generating a primary control signal in the primary processor, the primary processor being coupled to at least one of a plurality of aircraft actuators; generating a first backup control signal in the first set of backup electronics, the first set of backup electronics being coupled to at least one of the aircraft actuators; generating a second backup control signal in the second set of backup electronics, the second set of backup electronics being coupled to at least one of the aircraft actuators; and controlling at least one of the aircraft actuators using at least one of the primary control signal, the first backup control signal, or the second backup control signal.
25. The method of claim 24, further comprising: determining, in an actuator electronics unit, whether the primary control signal is valid; and selecting at least one of the first backup control signal or the second backup control signal to control at least one of the aircraft actuators in the event the primary control signal is invalid.
26. The method of claim 24, wherein the first set of backup electronics and the second set of backup electronics communicate via a cross-link.
27. The method of claim 26, further comprising: transmitting the first backup control signal from the first set of backup electronics on a first set of aircraft actuator channels; and transmitting the second backup control signal from the second set of backup electronics to a second set of aircraft actuator channels.
28. A flight control system for an aircraft comprising: an actuated control stick comprising: a primary sensor coupled to the actuated control stick; a backup sensor coupled to the actuated control stick; a first processor comprising: a first input to receive a primary control stick signal from the primary sensor; and a second input to receive a backup control stick signal from the backup sensor, wherein the first input and the second input are separate and independent; and the first processor being configured to: output the primary control stick signal from a first output; generate a tactile signal for the actuated control stick; and generate a backup control signal and output the backup control signal from a second output; wherein a first path from the first input to the first output is separate and independent from a second path from the second input to the second output; a second processor separate and independent from the first processing unit, the second processor being configured to: receive the primary control stick signal from the first output of the first processing unit; and generate a primary control signal based, at least in part, on the primary control stick signal; and at least one aircraft actuator coupled to the first processing unit and to the second processor, the actuator being configured to: receive the primary control signal from the second processor and the backup control signal from the first processing unit; and actuate based on at least one of the primary control signal or the backup control signal.
29. The flight control system of claim 28, wherein the first path and the second path are separated by a software fire-wall.
30. The flight control system of claim 28, wherein the first path follows a first hardware path and the second path follows a second hardware path, wherein the first hardware path and the second hardware path are separate and independent.
EP07718086A 2006-01-17 2007-01-17 System and method for an integrated backup control system Withdrawn EP1977292A2 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US75902906P 2006-01-17 2006-01-17
PCT/US2007/001186 WO2007084529A2 (en) 2006-01-17 2007-01-17 System and method for an integrated backup control system

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1977292A2 true EP1977292A2 (en) 2008-10-08

Family

ID=38288191

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP07718086A Withdrawn EP1977292A2 (en) 2006-01-17 2007-01-17 System and method for an integrated backup control system

Country Status (7)

Country Link
US (2) US7878461B2 (en)
EP (1) EP1977292A2 (en)
JP (1) JP2009523657A (en)
BR (1) BRPI0706593A2 (en)
CA (1) CA2637331A1 (en)
IL (1) IL192854A (en)
WO (1) WO2007084529A2 (en)

Families Citing this family (63)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US8532957B2 (en) * 2000-11-15 2013-09-10 Borealis Technical Limited Aircraft weight estimation method
WO2004074094A2 (en) 2003-02-15 2004-09-02 Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation System and method for aircraft cabin atmospheric composition control
US20080237402A1 (en) * 2005-12-19 2008-10-02 Marc Ausman Aircraft trim safety system and backup controls
EP1977297A4 (en) * 2006-01-17 2010-02-24 Gulfstream Aerospace Corp Apparatus and method for backup control in a distributed flight control system
JP2009523657A (en) * 2006-01-17 2009-06-25 ガルフストリーム・エアロスペース・コーポレイション System and method for an integrated backup control system
US8068943B2 (en) * 2007-07-03 2011-11-29 Honeywell International Inc. Inertial signals for flight control backup mode
US8078340B2 (en) * 2007-11-12 2011-12-13 Honeywell International Inc. Active user interface haptic feedback and linking control system using either force or position data
US7884565B2 (en) * 2008-01-10 2011-02-08 Honeywell International Inc. Human-machine interface with passive soft stops
US9156546B2 (en) * 2008-03-11 2015-10-13 The Boeing Company Active-inceptor tactile-cueing hands-off rate-limit
DE09840570T1 (en) * 2008-10-03 2011-12-01 Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc. PROCESS AND DEVICE FOR AIRPLANE SENSOR AND ACTUATION ERROR PROTECTION USING RECONFIGURABLE AIR CONTROL GUIDELINES
JP5658862B2 (en) * 2008-12-24 2015-01-28 カヤバ工業株式会社 Aircraft electric brake control system
US8209566B2 (en) * 2009-01-30 2012-06-26 Honeywell International Inc. Systems and methods for reconfiguring input devices
FR2943036B1 (en) * 2009-03-11 2011-04-15 Airbus France DISTRIBUTED FLIGHT CONTROL SYSTEM IMPLEMENTED ACCORDING TO AN INTEGRATED MODULAR AVIONIC ARCHITECTURE.
JP5437687B2 (en) * 2009-04-14 2014-03-12 ナブテスコ株式会社 Actuator monitoring circuit, control device, and actuator unit
DE102009022602A1 (en) * 2009-05-26 2010-12-02 Airbus Deutschland Gmbh Airplane with a high-lift system
FR2952447B1 (en) * 2009-11-06 2012-08-17 Ratier Figeac Soc ELECTRONIC CONTROL DEVICE FOR OPERATING A CRUISE MONITORING DRIVER, STEERING DEVICE AND AIRCRAFT
FR2952448B1 (en) * 2009-11-06 2012-08-03 Ratier Figeac Soc DEVICE FOR ELECTRONIC CONTROL OF A MULTIFUNCTIONAL MICROCONTROLLER DRIVER, STEERING DEVICE AND AIRCRAFT
DE102010022200A1 (en) * 2010-05-20 2011-11-24 Liebherr-Aerospace Lindenberg Gmbh Joystick System
US8814103B2 (en) * 2010-07-28 2014-08-26 Woodward Mpc, Inc. Position control system for cross coupled operation of fly-by-wire control columns
US8190307B2 (en) * 2010-08-23 2012-05-29 King Fahd University Of Petroleum & Minerals Control optimization method for helicopters carrying suspended loads
US8185259B2 (en) * 2010-08-23 2012-05-22 King Fahd University Of Petroleum & Minerals Fuzzy logic-based control method for helicopters carrying suspended loads
US8935015B2 (en) 2011-05-09 2015-01-13 Parker-Hannifin Corporation Flight control system with alternate control path
JP5893890B2 (en) * 2011-10-18 2016-03-23 三菱重工業株式会社 Aircraft and aircraft control method
CN104204983B (en) 2012-02-10 2018-01-05 默林科技股份有限公司 Automatic pilot and its method
US9150308B2 (en) 2012-02-10 2015-10-06 Merlin Technology, Inc. Rotorcraft autopilot system, components and methods
DE102012011600B4 (en) * 2012-02-21 2015-07-16 Phoenix Contact Gmbh & Co. Kg Method for controlling an escape route marker lighting
US8874286B2 (en) 2012-02-27 2014-10-28 Textron Innovations, Inc. Yaw damping system and method for aircraft
US8620492B2 (en) 2012-02-27 2013-12-31 Textron Innovations Inc. Yaw damping system and method for aircraft
US9197934B2 (en) * 2012-05-17 2015-11-24 Stmicroelectronics, Inc. Fault tolerant system with equivalence processing driving fault detection and backup activation
US8690101B2 (en) * 2012-05-18 2014-04-08 Rockwell Collins, Inc. Triplex cockpit control data acquisition electronics
GB201220653D0 (en) * 2012-11-16 2013-01-02 Mcculloch Norman L Improvements in aircraft
DE102012111991A1 (en) * 2012-11-20 2014-05-22 Conti Temic Microelectronic Gmbh Method for a driver assistance application
FR2998261B1 (en) * 2012-11-22 2014-11-21 Sagem Defense Securite MINI-HANDLE TO EQUIP AN AIRCRAFT
US9085355B2 (en) * 2012-12-07 2015-07-21 Delorean Aerospace, Llc Vertical takeoff and landing aircraft
US10994838B2 (en) 2012-12-07 2021-05-04 Delorean Aerospace, Llc Vertical takeoff and landing aircraft
US20140303812A1 (en) * 2013-04-05 2014-10-09 Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation Backup control system
US9372774B2 (en) * 2013-05-22 2016-06-21 GM Global Technology Operations LLC Redundant computing architecture
US9096325B2 (en) 2013-11-18 2015-08-04 Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. Fly-by-wire engine power control system
WO2015138318A1 (en) * 2014-03-11 2015-09-17 Cessna Aircraft Company Standby instrument panel for aircraft
WO2015138327A1 (en) 2014-03-11 2015-09-17 Cessna Aircraft Company Touch screen instrument panel
US10347140B2 (en) 2014-03-11 2019-07-09 Textron Innovations Inc. Flight planning and communication
US9428056B2 (en) 2014-03-11 2016-08-30 Textron Innovations, Inc. Adjustable synthetic vision
US20150274279A1 (en) * 2014-03-31 2015-10-01 Wyatt Logan Sinko Method and system for control input detection
US9146557B1 (en) * 2014-04-23 2015-09-29 King Fahd University Of Petroleum And Minerals Adaptive control method for unmanned vehicle with slung load
DE102014219848A1 (en) * 2014-09-30 2016-03-31 Airbus Operations Gmbh Monitoring device for differential transformer sensors in an aircraft and method
DE102014220781A1 (en) * 2014-10-14 2016-04-14 Robert Bosch Gmbh Fail-safe E / E architecture for automated driving
US9493231B2 (en) * 2015-03-20 2016-11-15 The Boeing Company Flight control system command selection and data transport
US10977276B2 (en) * 2015-07-31 2021-04-13 International Business Machines Corporation Balanced partition placement in distributed databases
CN106741861B (en) * 2016-11-29 2019-06-28 中国航空工业集团公司沈阳飞机设计研究所 A kind of bipolar direct drive valve actuator current protection strategy
FR3063349B1 (en) * 2017-02-28 2021-07-30 Airbus Helicopters REDUNDANT MONITORING SYSTEM OF THE STATE OF CONTROL SWITCHES OF AN AIRCRAFT CONTROL HANDLE
US10479223B2 (en) 2018-01-25 2019-11-19 H55 Sa Construction and operation of electric or hybrid aircraft
US11063323B2 (en) 2019-01-23 2021-07-13 H55 Sa Battery module for electrically-driven aircraft
US10854866B2 (en) 2019-04-08 2020-12-01 H55 Sa Power supply storage and fire management in electrically-driven aircraft
US11148819B2 (en) 2019-01-23 2021-10-19 H55 Sa Battery module for electrically-driven aircraft
US11065979B1 (en) 2017-04-05 2021-07-20 H55 Sa Aircraft monitoring system and method for electric or hybrid aircrafts
DE102017111527A1 (en) 2017-05-26 2018-11-29 Liebherr-Aerospace Lindenberg Gmbh Flight control system
US10759520B2 (en) * 2017-09-29 2020-09-01 The Boeing Company Flight control system and method of use
US20190127050A1 (en) * 2017-10-31 2019-05-02 Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation Flight control systems and methods
CN110383186A (en) * 2018-05-30 2019-10-25 深圳市大疆创新科技有限公司 A kind of emulation mode and device of unmanned plane
CN110766930B (en) * 2019-10-23 2021-10-29 中国商用飞机有限责任公司北京民用飞机技术研究中心 Distributed control system of civil owner flight control system direct mode
US11491930B2 (en) * 2019-12-03 2022-11-08 Woodward, Inc. Systems and methods for commanded or uncommanded channel switchover in a multiple processor controller
US11745856B2 (en) 2019-12-30 2023-09-05 Bombardier Inc. Systems and methods for controlling a resistive force of an inceptor of an aircraft
CN114114894A (en) * 2021-11-24 2022-03-01 中国商用飞机有限责任公司 Telex flight backup control system and telex flight backup control method

Family Cites Families (81)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CA1026850A (en) 1973-09-24 1978-02-21 Smiths Industries Limited Dual, simultaneously operating control system with fault detection
FR2344063A1 (en) 1976-03-10 1977-10-07 Smiths Industries Ltd AT LEAST TWO-WAY DIGITAL CONTROL CIRCUIT
DE2807902C2 (en) 1978-02-24 1980-04-30 Messerschmitt-Boelkow-Blohm Gmbh, 8000 Muenchen Control device with active force feedback
US4198017A (en) 1978-10-13 1980-04-15 The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army Control augmentation system for flight vehicles
US4363098A (en) 1980-06-24 1982-12-07 The Boeing Company Electric command spoiler system
US4370706A (en) 1980-09-26 1983-01-25 The Bendix Corporation Controller for a dual servo system
US4542679A (en) 1981-02-17 1985-09-24 Textron Inc. Multiple loop control system
US4517639A (en) 1982-05-13 1985-05-14 The Boeing Company Fault scoring and selection circuit and method for redundant system
DE3279929D1 (en) 1982-06-16 1989-10-12 Boeing Co Autopilot flight director system
US4504233A (en) 1982-12-20 1985-03-12 The Singer Company High performance control loading system for manually-operable controls in a vehicle simulator
US4533097A (en) 1983-07-11 1985-08-06 Sundstrand Corporation Multi-motor actuation system for a power drive unit
US4626851A (en) 1983-11-09 1986-12-02 Gec Avionics Limited Aircraft display devices
US4598292A (en) 1983-12-23 1986-07-01 Grumman Aerospace Corporation Electronic standby flight instrument
US4672529A (en) 1984-10-26 1987-06-09 Autech Partners Ltd. Self contained data acquisition apparatus and system
US4652417A (en) 1985-02-07 1987-03-24 Westinghouse Electric Corp. Fault-tolerant analog output network
US4811230A (en) 1986-08-15 1989-03-07 Boeing Company Intervention flight management system
US4807516A (en) 1987-04-23 1989-02-28 The Boeing Company Flight control system employing three controllers operating a dual actuator
US4887214A (en) 1987-10-27 1989-12-12 The Boeing Company Flight control system employing two dual controllers operating a dual actuator
US5012423A (en) 1989-04-17 1991-04-30 Mcdonnell Douglas Corporation Back-up fly by wire control system
US5076517A (en) 1989-08-14 1991-12-31 United Technologies Corporation Programmable, linear collective control system for a helicopter
US5091847A (en) 1989-10-03 1992-02-25 Grumman Aerospace Corporation Fault tolerant interface station
US5209661A (en) 1990-10-29 1993-05-11 Systems Control Technology, Inc. Motor control desired dynamic load of a simulating system and method
US5062594A (en) 1990-11-29 1991-11-05 The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Air Force Flight control system with tactile feedback
US5274554A (en) 1991-02-01 1993-12-28 The Boeing Company Multiple-voting fault detection system for flight critical actuation control systems
DE4227157C2 (en) 1991-09-02 1994-11-24 Deutsche Aerospace Airbus Circuit arrangement for an automatic brake control system
GB9123304D0 (en) 1991-11-02 1992-09-23 Westland Helicopters Integrated vibration reducing and health monitoring systems
FR2686310B1 (en) 1992-01-20 1994-04-08 Aerospatiale Ste Nationale Indle SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING AN AERODYNAMIC SURFACE OF AN AIRCRAFT.
US5493497A (en) * 1992-06-03 1996-02-20 The Boeing Company Multiaxis redundant fly-by-wire primary flight control system
US5347204A (en) 1992-10-06 1994-09-13 Honeywell Inc. Position dependent rate dampening in any active hand controller
US5264768A (en) 1992-10-06 1993-11-23 Honeywell, Inc. Active hand controller feedback loop
FR2708112B1 (en) 1993-07-22 1995-09-01 Ratier Figeac Soc Control device with a control handle, in particular a servo-controlled mini-handle for aircraft.
FR2711257B1 (en) 1993-10-14 1995-12-22 Aerospatiale Electric flight control system for aircraft with take-off attitude protection.
US5412299A (en) 1993-12-21 1995-05-02 Honeywell, Inc. Variable servo loop compensation in an active hand controller
US5473235A (en) 1993-12-21 1995-12-05 Honeywell Inc. Moment cell counterbalance for active hand controller
US5515282A (en) 1994-04-25 1996-05-07 The Boeing Company Method and apparatus for implementing a databus voter to select flight command signals from one of several redundant asynchronous digital primary flight computers
FR2719277B1 (en) 1994-04-29 1996-06-21 Treviso Marc Passive vehicle transport system.
US5559415A (en) 1994-06-30 1996-09-24 Honeywell Inc. Integrator management for redundant active hand controllers
US5670856A (en) 1994-11-07 1997-09-23 Alliedsignal Inc. Fault tolerant controller arrangement for electric motor driven apparatus
FR2728537A1 (en) 1994-12-21 1996-06-28 Eurocopter France DEVICE FOR ACTUATING A CONTROL MEMBER FOR AN AIRCRAFT, IN PARTICULAR A HELICOPTER, WITH ELECTRIC FLIGHT CONTROLS
US5881971A (en) 1995-05-15 1999-03-16 The Boeing Company Monitoring systems for detecting failures in fly-by-wire aircraft flight control systems
US5668542A (en) 1995-07-03 1997-09-16 The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Air Force Color cockpit display for aircraft systems
US5694014A (en) * 1995-08-22 1997-12-02 Honeywell Inc. Active hand controller redundancy and architecture
US5875998A (en) 1996-02-05 1999-03-02 Daimler-Benz Aerospace Airbus Gmbh Method and apparatus for optimizing the aerodynamic effect of an airfoil
US5743490A (en) 1996-02-16 1998-04-28 Sundstrand Corporation Flap/slat actuation system for an aircraft
US5806806A (en) 1996-03-04 1998-09-15 Mcdonnell Douglas Corporation Flight control mechanical backup system
US5806805A (en) 1996-08-07 1998-09-15 The Boeing Company Fault tolerant actuation system for flight control actuators
JP2948153B2 (en) 1996-08-27 1999-09-13 株式会社コミュータヘリコプタ先進技術研究所 Pilot device
FR2754515B1 (en) 1996-10-14 1998-12-24 Aerospatiale PILOTAGE ASSISTANCE DEVICE ON AN ELECTRIC FLIGHT CONTROL AIRCRAFT
US5911390A (en) 1997-07-09 1999-06-15 Mcdonnell Douglas Corporation Bobweight assembly for establishing a force feedback on a manually movable control element
US5978715A (en) 1997-10-15 1999-11-02 Dassault Aviation Apparatus and method for aircraft display and control
US6038498A (en) 1997-10-15 2000-03-14 Dassault Aviation Apparatus and mehod for aircraft monitoring and control including electronic check-list management
US6112141A (en) 1997-10-15 2000-08-29 Dassault Aviation Apparatus and method for graphically oriented aircraft display and control
FR2771998B1 (en) 1997-12-08 2000-02-25 Sfim Ind AIRCRAFT FLIGHT CONTROL GOVERNOR ACTUATOR
FR2778163B1 (en) 1998-04-29 2000-06-23 Aerospatiale AIRCRAFT WITH LOWER SAIL EFFORTS
US6189836B1 (en) 1998-09-25 2001-02-20 Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation Model-following control system using acceleration feedback
US6356809B1 (en) 1999-06-11 2002-03-12 Cbi Systems Corporation Electro-statically shielded processing module
JP2001070107A (en) * 1999-09-01 2001-03-21 Lucky Kogyo Kk Baby carrier with pad
FR2811780B1 (en) * 2000-07-13 2002-08-30 Aerospatiale Matra Airbus METHOD AND DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING MANEUVERING DEVICES OF AN AIRCRAFT WITH ELECTRIC BACKUP MODULES
US6443399B1 (en) 2000-07-14 2002-09-03 Honeywell International Inc. Flight control module merged into the integrated modular avionics
US6561463B1 (en) 2000-07-14 2003-05-13 Honeywell International Inc. Flight control module with integrated spoiler actuator control electronics
US6381519B1 (en) 2000-09-19 2002-04-30 Honeywell International Inc. Cursor management on a multiple display electronic flight instrumentation system
US6459228B1 (en) 2001-03-22 2002-10-01 Mpc Products Corporation Dual input servo coupled control sticks
DE10116479C2 (en) 2001-04-03 2003-12-11 Eurocopter Deutschland Method and control device for adjusting a flap pivotally mounted in the rotor blade of a helicopter
FR2825680B1 (en) 2001-06-07 2003-09-26 Sagem PRIMARY FLIGHT CONTROL ACTUATOR WITH VIBRATION MOTOR
US6693558B2 (en) 2001-06-18 2004-02-17 Innovative Solutions & Support, Inc. Aircraft flat panel display system
US6573672B2 (en) * 2001-06-29 2003-06-03 Honeywell International Inc. Fail passive servo controller
US6622972B2 (en) 2001-10-31 2003-09-23 The Boeing Company Method and system for in-flight fault monitoring of flight control actuators
GB0127254D0 (en) 2001-11-13 2002-01-02 Lucas Industries Ltd Aircraft flight surface control system
JP3751559B2 (en) 2001-12-26 2006-03-01 ナブテスコ株式会社 Flight control system
US6867711B1 (en) 2002-02-28 2005-03-15 Garmin International, Inc. Cockpit instrument panel systems and methods with variable perspective flight display
US6832138B1 (en) 2002-02-28 2004-12-14 Garmin International, Inc. Cockpit instrument panel systems and methods with redundant flight data display
US6735500B2 (en) 2002-06-10 2004-05-11 The Boeing Company Method, system, and computer program product for tactile cueing flight control
US20040078120A1 (en) 2002-10-16 2004-04-22 Edgar Melkers Non-linear compensation of a control system having an actuator and a method therefore
US20040078121A1 (en) 2002-10-22 2004-04-22 Cartmell Daniel H. Control system and method with multiple linked inputs
US6813527B2 (en) 2002-11-20 2004-11-02 Honeywell International Inc. High integrity control system architecture using digital computing platforms with rapid recovery
US6796526B2 (en) 2002-11-25 2004-09-28 The Boeing Company Augmenting flight control surface actuation system and method
EP1443399B1 (en) 2003-01-23 2009-05-20 Supercomputing Systems AG Fault tolerant computer controlled system
US6799739B1 (en) 2003-11-24 2004-10-05 The Boeing Company Aircraft control surface drive system and associated methods
US7307549B2 (en) 2005-07-05 2007-12-11 Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation Standby display aircraft management system
EP1977297A4 (en) 2006-01-17 2010-02-24 Gulfstream Aerospace Corp Apparatus and method for backup control in a distributed flight control system
JP2009523657A (en) 2006-01-17 2009-06-25 ガルフストリーム・エアロスペース・コーポレイション System and method for an integrated backup control system

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
See references of WO2007084529A2 *

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
US8104720B2 (en) 2012-01-31
US20110190965A1 (en) 2011-08-04
US20070164168A1 (en) 2007-07-19
WO2007084529A2 (en) 2007-07-26
IL192854A0 (en) 2009-02-11
US7878461B2 (en) 2011-02-01
CA2637331A1 (en) 2007-07-26
BRPI0706593A2 (en) 2011-04-05
JP2009523657A (en) 2009-06-25
WO2007084529A3 (en) 2008-02-14
IL192854A (en) 2014-05-28

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US7878461B2 (en) System and method for an integrated backup control system
US7984878B2 (en) Apparatus and method for backup control in a distributed flight control system
US8690101B2 (en) Triplex cockpit control data acquisition electronics
EP2490936B2 (en) Tactile cueing apparatus
EP2374714A2 (en) Distributed fly-by-wire system
US7337044B2 (en) Dual/triplex flight control architecture
WO2008122820A2 (en) Multi-axis serially redundant, single channel, multi-path fly-by-wire flight control system
BRPI1102364A2 (en) aircraft and aircraft flight control system
EP3456626B1 (en) Electric pedal control device for aircraft
RU2485568C2 (en) Modular electronic flight control system
US20120056039A1 (en) Control system for an aircraft
US11099936B2 (en) Aircraft integrated multi system electronic architecture
US9452824B2 (en) Fly by wire servos with internal loop closure
EP4306431A1 (en) An electronic unit for a tactile cueing apparatus
Xue et al. The distributed dissimilar redundancy architecture of fly-by-wire flight control system
US20220219810A1 (en) Systems and methods for protecting flight control systems
GB2620633A (en) An electronic unit for a tactile cueing apparatus
WO2024013482A1 (en) An electronic unit for a tactile cueing apparatus
KR101885663B1 (en) Fly-by-wire flight control system with backup mechanical flight control system
Lin et al. Multi-axis serially redundant, single channel, multi-path FBW flight control system
Krogh et al. Application of Microprocessors to Aircraft Fly-By-Wire Hydraulic Actuation Systems, SAE Committee A-6 1983

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
PUAI Public reference made under article 153(3) epc to a published international application that has entered the european phase

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009012

17P Request for examination filed

Effective date: 20080725

AK Designated contracting states

Kind code of ref document: A2

Designated state(s): AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HU IE IS IT LI LT LU LV MC NL PL PT RO SE SI SK TR

DAX Request for extension of the european patent (deleted)
STAA Information on the status of an ep patent application or granted ep patent

Free format text: STATUS: THE APPLICATION IS DEEMED TO BE WITHDRAWN

18D Application deemed to be withdrawn

Effective date: 20120801